Nothing boosts the sales of assault-type rifles like a massacre of kindergartners by a gunman with an assault-type rifle.

That the sales of such weapons spiked in the days following the Newtown, CT, shooting that left 26 people — including 20 children — dead says a lot about the chances of more restrictive gun laws being enacted.

The gun lobby must be giddy with anticipation about having more assault-type firearms out there, increasing the likelihood of some other shooting spree that will — you guessed it — cause the sale of even more firearms.

A key to “success” in many video games is for the player to arm his character with the most powerful weapons available in the game. If you’ve got more firepower than the bad guys, your chance of staying “alive” goes up.

That’s the NRA’s position. The best solution to bad guys with guns is more good guys with guns, preferably bigger and more powerful. In the real world, a loaded firearm in the house greatly increases the odds of someone being shot. And while firearms are the weapons of choice for mass murder in the U.S., they’re also the weapon of choice for homicides and suicides.

We’re starting to see discussion of various scenarios for gun control, from banning the sale of assault-type weapons to equipping teachers with assault-type weapons, but so strong is the gun lobby’s influence that we can’t even get good statistics from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms or the Centers for Disease Control on what weapons were used for what crimes because Congress passed laws prohibiting those agencies from using federal funds to release that data. It is currently impossible to do a statistical analysis to show the extent that assault weapons are used in crime. We’re running blind!

We’re also starting to hear talk about the glorification of violence in music, TV shows, movies and video games, but against the First Amendment, don’t hold your breath waiting for change. And how far will new funding for mental health services get in a House of Representatives trying to slash funding of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security?

With 89 guns in circulation for every 100 Americans, the domestic arms race is out of control, and if every new atrocity spurs gun sales, Bushmaster will need no marketing budget.

Banning assault-type weapons might not deter a deranged person bent on wreaking havoc, but flooding the streets with Bushmaster semiautomatic weapons and their like doesn’t seem like a strategy likely to improve public safety.

Thanks to the gun lobby and its friends in Congress, one can buy a 50-caliber semiautomatic “sniper rifle” with armor piercing bullets that will penetrate an engine block — or the wall of a school bus. Only in self-defense, of course.

Mark Beardsley is editor of The Commerce News, a sister paper of The Madison County Journal.

It is not the tragic death of kindergartners that spikes the sales of firearms. It is the threat to subvert the Constitution and the rule of law by outlawing their sale, banning them, and or confiscating them.

People have seen it happen too many times to dismiss the possibility as ludicrous.

Armed citizens do pretty well at stopping madmen from committing mass killings, and volunteer guards have worked very well where they have been tried.

While I agree that outlawing assault-type firearms would be a good thing A COMPLETE BAN of such weapons won't help? Let's look at it:
1.What hunter OR Sportsman needs an assault rifle? Who needs a weapon that all you have to do is pull the trigger and hold it and it keeps firing until empty?
2. How many weapons are stolen each year and then used in a crime?
3. How many Guns are sold on the street everyday that have the Serial Numbers filed off?
AND as for the bullet tax. That is just STUPID? SO anyone wanting to do a mass shooting can still do it it will just cost them more money to do it? AND at the CT school shooting DIDN'T the gunman STEAL THE GUN HE USED? If you are going to steal a gun AND kill someone while stealing that gun WOULDN'T YOU THINK TO STEAL BULLETS TOO?
This all started when WE allowed GOD to be taken out of our schools?
What bothers me is we are hearing about this at other schools and we think it is so far away and could NEVER happen here in Madison County BUT IT COULD HAVE BEEN HERE?

What do you mean we dont need "assault weapons" you do realize the United States goverment has murdered more children than all the mass shooters combined. Where is the outrage over Obama murdering children with predator drones? "assault weapons" are just the beginning, the camel getting its nose under the tent. The second amendment was not put in the constitution for hunting daffy duck. It was put in there to protect us from our own goverment. What is an assault weapon any way a gun that looks scary to you? The worst school massacre in the history of this country was done with dynamite look up the (Bath school massacre),(happyland massacre), (Jim Jones). Military style weapons are the very heart of the second amendment. Also you claim with these "assault weapons"all you have to do is pull the trigger and bullets just pour out the end. You are a LIAR these weapons are semi automatic not full auto get your facts straight you ignorant redneck. Ole Jake is right look at the countries that have disarmed their populations. It is ignorant people like you that will cause us to slide into a hellish police state. As for me I will not be turning anything in come get them. As far as guns being sold on the street have you heard of "operation fast and furious" the goverment was and still is arming drug cartels with real full auto military weapons. We are also arming Al-CIAda with weapons in syria,libya,yemen,somolia just to name a few. But we dont need these weapons just srug cartel and "terrorist". YOU FOOL.

sovrncitzn- YOU IGNORANT PIECE OF CRAP. Are you trying to say THERE IS NO WEAPON that you pull and hold the trigger and bullets pour out the end? The way you write YOU sound like you need to get YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT.

Yes there are full auto weapons, To own one you have to go trough massive back ground checks. Then you are given a class 3 FFL. You are trying to lead people to think that Lanza used a full auto weapon, he used a semi auto. The only people who are allowed to have full auto weapons without FFL's or background checks is the drug cartels and Al-CIAda that our goverment arms. Tell everyone how your ilk are going to take the "assault weapons". You are saying citizens dont need these weapons. The GOVERMENT has murdered more children than all the mass shooters combined. Enough demand a plan Disarm the GOVERMENT.

1.What hunter OR Sportsman needs an assault rifle? Who needs a weapon that all you have to do is pull the trigger and hold it and it keeps firing until empty?"

An "Assault rifle", by definition, are full automatic or burst capable....which are not what the masses are buying is droves. To buy an "assault rifle" you first need about $13,000 (the going price for a 1986 and before assault firearm), an extensive FBI background check, a letter from your local sheriff and the patience to wait seven months to a year for the ability to purchase it.
The common rifle that we hear about being purchased is the AR-15 which fires a relatively small caliber round (.223). By contrast, the average hunting rifle, 30-06, 243, 7 Mag, etc... fire larger and higher energy rounds such as the 7.62, .243, etc...

What Beardsley and yourself are attempting to refer to are "assault weapons" which fire ONE round every time the trigger is pulled. Vast difference.

We took god out of our schools caused this? That's ignorant. What happened, happened because that kid was a freak, not because God got angry about not being in school. You're using God for a complex question that you and many other people have used God for thousands of years. You simply don't understand so you use something you've known your whole life; God. Now personally I don't believe in God, but I do respect other's beliefs. But it really aggitates me when people use their religion for questions they cannot answer/understand. This is ignorance.

Now, I'm 18. Just turned 18 in December. I've always owned a rifle growing up, in fact my first rifle was a Marlin Model 80, which is a semi-automatic .22. I had tons of fun shooting this growing up, hunting gophers and other small varmints. As I got older I started to get into bigger calibers and owning a rifle turned into more than just owning them for fun, but also for what seems to be a tradition for both us Native Americans and Americans. Also it helps relieve stress and get your mind off of stuff just by having some fun. I have 2 younger siblings that own their very own guns. The second youngest, 15, owns his very own DPMS AR-15 .223/5.56NATO rifle, Steven's Model 60 22-250 bolt action rifle, and Springfield Armory XD-40 semi-auto handgun. The youngest, 12, owns a Ruger 10/22 semi-auto. I own a GSG-522 semi-auto .22, Steven's Model 60 22-250, and a Taurus PT1911 .45ACP semi-auto handgun. Now if you come to our house, you will literally find a gun in every one of our rooms out, also with bullets close by, though not visible. My family has always done this. Not one of us has EVER thought about loading up and going on a killing spree. I know MANY other families that do this as well, and those families know families that do it and so on.

Why is it that the news only covers the stories where the bad guys kill people, but not the good guys saving lives with their guns? That's because the government funds these news stations and they do as they say (the major news stations like CNN, Fox News, etc.) and they are brainwashing people that guns are bad. Guns are used more for good than bad if you actually take the time to look it up. If you don't think that Obama is being a little hypocrit about this, then why did the DHS (Department of Homeland Security) purchase 1.6 BILLION bullets? Most are hollow-points.

"This all started when WE allowed GOD to be taken out of our schools?"

What exactly do you mean by this? I see a Christian kid, a Muslim kid, a Jewish kid, a Hindu kid and a Budhist kid all entering a public school for the day. Do they all suddenly lose their faiths as they go through the door? And then regain their faiths as they leave? Whose god do you mean? Whose god allowed these killings to happen?

Religion has nothing to do with this problem. You are wanting some simple explanation to a very complex problem just as you want simple solutions. Our world is not like that anymore and probably never was.

The biggest reason for these types of killings is poor mental health, not lack of God. Guns or no guns won't change that. Affordable and accessable mental health care can help diminish the threat to the rest of us though. As Mr. Beardsley noted, with all the current monetary pressures, that ain't gonna happen. So we refuse to pay and take the risk; sacrific a few little kids for saving a bit of money. Sure, why not?

Ms.K- SO do you agree with the thought of arming every teacher and teach them all how to shoot? OR having armed parents on site all day? That's not the answer either? That will make the kids feel like they are going to school in a prison having armed guards walking around all day. BUT if we were to give FREE MENTAL HEALTH CARE we would have to give it to EVERYONE in America BECAUSE nobody knows WHO is going to snap next? The US can't afford that?

Where did I say "free"? Mental health care should be just like physical health care - accessable and affordable. That is the only move towards identifying the threats that makes sense and treating them before they act. I agree that turning schools into lock-downs is no answer at all. Neither is gun control since evil-doers will find a way no matter what.

BTW, "YOU IGNORANT PIECE OF CRAP" is a mighty ugly accusation, particularly for a Christian fellow such as yourself. I'm surprised the paper allowed it. I would ask you to clean up your act, please.

Ms.K- The FREE Mental Health care I am talking about is just like the Health care we have now? People say they can't afford it and OUR Government says here we'll sign you up on Medicaid. That way it won't cost you a dime? Medicare is different? I pay $114. a month for my Medicare and I have to pay the doctor EVERY Time I go see him AND I also have to pay every time I go get a prescription filled? Medicare is just like ANY other insurance BUT Medicaid is Free?

If a person wants to commit a mass assault on a large body of people they don't need guns to do it. Building a bomb is a simple thing and it transports much easier. Children have killed teachers in public schools in this country and the facts show that in country's where guns are banned the crime rate for mass killing in public school is as high as in America.

Too bad we don't have statistics on the violence and deathes in an unarmed nation isn't it? Oh wait, we do! Naxi Germany, Stalinist Russia, Communist China - all with unarmed populations.

One teacher, maintenance man or janitor - armed, could have stopped the carnage or at least mitigated it. Why do these nut cases attack schools? Because they know there are no guns there! When was the last time you heard of someone attacking a police station?

Mr Beardsly, next time you really need help make sure you call Law Enforcement early, because it is going to take a few minutes for the officer to arrive.
I think I will help myself while the officer is enroute.

Really? You wouldn't mind sending your kids to a school where, " One teacher, maintenance man or janitor" is carrying a gun? Do you really think that highly of these people? I rarely meet a teacher that I don't think is nutty or unbalanced, nevermind the lack of combat or violence experience. Teachers carrying guns? NO!
The NRA's stupid leader suggest putting police in EVERY school, but no politician is supporting that idea because of expense.

Typically the guns used to commit these crimes are either stolen or purchased at gun shows, the ammo can be bought over the internet.
END GUN SHOWS NOW! Penalize gun owners that have their weapons stolen from their homes or autos for improperly securing them, resulting in potential harm to innocent civilians.
Lastly, require all gun sales to be regulated,even those between family and friends. These sales avoid the FBI background checks and must be stopped. A pawn shop or sporting goods store could facilitate the sale and checks for a fee.

PS. If you think you are protecting yourself from the gov't with your assault weapon, you're an ignorant fool. They have tanks,helicopters,drones,etc.,etc.,etc.

The second amendment was written at a time when state of the art weapons were single shot muskets.

Ben Had- I agree with you here. I haven't met many teachers that I would trust carrying a gun much less protecting my kids? IF you are going to allow teachers to carry guns WHY NOT THE KIDS TOO/ Oh. wait that's the problem now. Kids have free and easy access to guns SO if they get mad at another student they start shooting? I think if you are going to own a gun YOU SHOULD ALSO HAVE TO OWN A WAY TO LOCK THEM UP? ALL my guns are locked in safes and there is only 2 keys. I have one and my wife has the other on our key rings?
I have seen friends leave the keys sticking in the safe door OR tape the combination to the outside of the door? SO if someone breaks in that's like saying here I'll make it easy for you to steal my guns?

"The second amendment was written at a time when state of the art weapons were single shot muskets."

The first amendment was written at a time when free speech was parchment paper and scrolls and local criers. Do we need to outlaw electronic media, which was not state-of-the-art at the construction of the constitution, which you spout your rhetoric in the MCJ weekly?

"The NRA's stupid leader suggest putting police in EVERY school, but no politician is supporting that idea because of expense."

Why not? With the Democrat's unbridled affinity for spending money that we don't have, why spare this expense? I figured that you would be behind any plan that continues our debt increases.

Daniel, if you don't have anything constructive to say, please don't waste our time and yours.
Your 1st Ammendment argument is silly, at best.
Your opinions are mostly just regurgated Fox News sound bites. Good for you.

Yes you are right about the time frame Daniel.
They did have cannons and many other ways to exact destruction though.
However it was not the intention of the Founders to just have this Amendment to last only until new firearms came onto the scene. It was intended to transcend all time a technology. Further studies of our history through the Federalists Papers and many other archived memoirs exists
to explain why we have the Constitution we have and why we are suppose to have a form of Government that we do not have . Would those of you who believe it to be different agree in regulating your religious freedom or transforming and diminishing some other freedom you enjoy that is protected by the Constitution simply because someone else doesn't agree with it or you ?
What do the words (shall not be infringed) mean ? Is it true words have no meaning to these people anymore ? That is a scary thought but perhaps its true . From what I see today not many peoples words mean anything anymore especially the Government and the rich who so corrupt them for their own benefit at our expense. You may never change the world just be very cautious that it doesn't change you and that your thoughts are always your own .
We have way to many people who think this way today. They feel that their own self righteous hubris ideology gives them the right to tell others how to live . That is not only arrogant its not American and its not Christian.

Hey Redneck . How did they take God out of Schools ?
Nothing new here. Same ole same ole .
Human nature is still the same today as it was on day one . Noting has changed .
Anything can be a weapon . Terrible things happen brought on by mad people.
Going after animate things to prevent tragedies from happening is futile because you are going after the wrong thing.
That is just part of the human condition
no God nor man made law will ever stop that.
Wasn't it Cain who killed Able with the jaw of and ass ?
It will only occur when we make the change or are forced into that evolutionary jump and truly become better humans and a true civilized world that can live in harmony with the very nature that gives us life .

What Bible do you have that says Cain slew Able with the jaw of an ass? I'd like to see that version, as the story in my Bible is quite different. Not that it says he used an assault rifle, but mine just declares that Cain "rose up against" his brother and killed him.

But, staying on that thread, the jaws of asses do continue to distort the truth.

Of course, if Able had been armed with a gun, things might have turned out differently, right? Too bad.

Gun Owner/ Sportsman- One woman started the ball rolling to have prayer taken out of public schools and it snowballed from there and now God can't be mentioned in schools?
AND are you saying YOU NEED an automatic weapon? If you say yes then you my friend are MAD and you are the type of people that we are trying to get these weapons away from?

Come get it redneck you got the easy part over. Who's going to come get them you, them fat doughnut chasers. LOL, LOL, LOL. Again you ignorant redneck SEMI-AUTO you are the one thats MAD and delusional if you think we will just peacfully turn in our guns. So explain to everyone how your going to get these weapons.

sovrncitzn- DON'T JUMP MY CASE I agree with you about them taking MY guns, I won't give mine up without a fight BUT what I'm saying is NOBODY needs a fully automatic rifle? You CAN'T HUNT WITH IT UNLESS YOU ARE HUNTING PEOPLE TO KILL? Think about if you shot a deer with an automatic rifle? There wouldn't be anything left to bring home?

Your right they are to hunt people. Criminals that try to rob you, men who try to rape women, and poloticans who rob and rape us all. Gun control is really the ability to hit ones target, so I guess I am for at least one form of gun control.

Well to those of you who believe yourselves to be bible scholars , please tell us all what it was that Cain used to kill Able .

Sampson also used a jawbone to kill .
It wasn't just one,it was many he killed with one .

That is not the topic here anyway.

I also say if I want , not need an assault weapon that is my right and I will have it and you nor anyone else will take it from me because of your own hubris belief.

Did not our Founders explain to us that we have that right at birth given to us by our creator and that it shall not be infringed.

Weren't they the Christians who supposedly formed this country for Christians and all Religious Freedom ?
Which I will add is protected because of Guns and Bombs far more dangerous than and assault riffle. However you say nothing about this kind of murder.

Kill 1 or 27 and its murder. Kill hundreds of thousands and its foreign policy ,national defense or collateral
damage. However I will hand it to the lame stream media to inundate peoples minds with delusions of a armed murder behind ever tree and every classroom door with an assault riffle.

If you want to live your life the way you see fit then you have to give others the same freedom whether you agree with or like their choices or not. Punishing all for the wrong of a few is at its core insane .

If you don't like things don't do them don't support them but you don't have the right to decide for others .

As passed by the Congress:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

As you say you have no need for one. Your choice. Not your right to force your choice or belief or morals or anything else on another . That's not American and its unchristian also.

Why is it always the nut jobs attacking people and their liberties and freedoms calling others delusional
to draw the attention away from their own insanity ?

Gun Owner/Sportsman- It don't say what was used it says that "HE rose up against his brother and slew him" He could have used his hands to choke him to death, he could have used a SPEAR, a CLUB, STAFF BUT I don't think it was a gun, pipe bomb or nothing like that SINCE gun powder hadn't been invented yet?

You are a d:;($&@& just because people own rifles like that does not mean that they are using them for evil. And I stress this guns do not kill people! People kill people! Ive owned guns all my damn life and guess what I am not a complete psychopath like lanza. your whole statistics are complete crap by the way. Yes guns might be used for crimes, but how many of thouse are actually registred thru the FBI. So before you go out and stick your damn nose where it does not belong.

Oscar(the Grouch)- I own 5 rifles and shot guns and 3 pistols and have owned guns my whole life? BUT what WE are saying is WHO needs an Automatic weapon? I use my long guns for hunting AND the pistols for personal and home protection? I have no need for an Automatic weapon YOU CAN'T HUNT WITH IT?

Taking God out of school didn't have anything to do with Lanza's killing spree. Lanza was homeschooled. A true conservative doesn't send his or her child to school for religious training. They do that at home or at their church. If you start having Muslim or Hindu prayers at local schools half the people on this blog would go off the deep end. The ones who aren't already there.

He was home-schooled for only part of his education. If you are looking for an excuse for his behavior, look to mental health problems, not lack of God or lack of interaction with those his own age or bullying or home schooling. We all want to know "why", but we will never know. My speculation is that he was angry at the world for being born different, for being treated badly and possibly for being pushed out of his home by his mother who didn't want to be burdened by him any more. Besides, most 20-year-olds not in school should be out on their own so it was time. Just a sad, tragic, horrific thing to happen. Keep in mind that it doesn't happen very often, though once is too much.

"Thanks to the gun lobby and its friends in Congress, one can buy a 50-caliber semiautomatic “sniper rifle” with armor piercing bullets that will penetrate an engine block — or the wall of a school bus."

If you have about $7,000 (for a low end, used 50 cal), willing to lug around 60 lbs of gun an ammo (45 lbs being the weapon) and can conceal a three foot hunk of metal.
Try constructing your arguments with more logic and less emotion.

I am writing in response to your recent opinion entitled, “Seriously, more guns the answer for curtailing violence”. The aspiration of my writing is not to debate the gun control issue but to point out your errors in reasoning as it applies to the questionable evidence used to rest your views. The judicious nature of the evidence cited promotes a restricted view on the gun control issue. Your supposition encompasses a rather narrow perspective, with its foundation rooted in poverty of aspect. The outcome of making too many assumptions and not being open to the consideration of all reflective possibilities leads to an oversimplification of a complex issue.

If your initial scope had been broadened before opinions were embraced, other reasonable points of view may have been examined. However, once a viewpoint was acquired, it hindered the contemplation of other alternative explanations. The practice of making incorrect assumptions and accepting facts that haven’t been proven act as a encumbrance in acquiring the knowledge necessary to reason in an compelling manner. In an attempt to reach a hasty conclusion, there was not any deliberation of contending points of view which was palpable in your bias toward the subject at hand.

One example cited is the hypothesis that the sales of assault-type weapons were a consequence of the “massacre of kindergartners”. That is an unwarranted post hoc fallacy, with no evidential basis for support. Furthermore, the associations made between what’s required for success in winning a video game and what determines success in staying alive in real life situations are false analogies that have no merits other than to mislead and persuade others through a distortion of the facts.

It is important for those, especially when debating issues of strong personal conviction, to maintain a cognizance of their own personal biases as not to affect judgment until after all details are known. Otherwise, the opinion held will have the propensity to be biased in the consideration of the evidence, averting a fair and reasonable interpretation of the facts. The statistical information cited does not take into account other possible alternatives and fosters a partisan tone which serves to support your axiom as factual. Likewise, there was no contemplation of alternative viewpoints which have the effect of misrepresenting and skewing the conclusion. Without the pursuit of opposing viewpoints, it is impossible to make a reasonable interpretation of the information.

Statements made, especially by those in the media who are in a position of influence, should be done based purely on the examination of evidence. That requires taking a capacious view of the problem so that all appurtenant points of view are taken into account which was not done in this case. Additionally, there needs to be an awareness of one’s own personal biases and efforts made to counteract the natural proclivity of taking sides. Try to discipline your mind by recognizing the limitations of your experience that may be preventing the exploration of other points of view so that a fair and impartial discernment of the evidence can ensue.

I realize this article is old as well as in the opinion section, but had to highlight these two points of misinformation and fear mongering from someone who clearly doesn't know what they are talking about..... Unfortunately, the uninformed may actually believe what they are reading which is a shame.

Quote: "...so strong is the gun lobby’s influence that we can’t even get good statistics from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms or the Centers for Disease Control on what weapons were used for what crimes because Congress passed laws prohibiting those agencies from using federal funds to release that data."

Ummm, have you looked at the FBI's statistics? they are the governmental agency tasked with criminal statistics. No need to duplicate efforts among agencies here.

Quote: "Thanks to the gun lobby and its friends in Congress, one can buy a 50-caliber semiautomatic “sniper rifle” with armor piercing bullets that will penetrate an engine block — or the wall of a school bus. Only in self-defense, of course."

Really, school bus. Just had to throw that in there... fear mongering. News flash, anyone with any common sense about firearms knows it doesn't take a .50 cal to penetrate sheet metal on the side of a school bus or any other car in America for that matter. Most ANY caliber will do that. Also, you cannot buy 'armor piercing' rounds as far as armor piercing is defined by our military. Oh, and you better have $5-8k if you want to buy decent a .50 cal.

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